The Engage Watermark is granted to higher education institutions in recognition of their strategic support for public engagement and their commitment to improving the support offered. The Engage Watermark has four levels of award: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. The Silver Award is given to the institution that has made progress in addressing its level of support for public engagement and is using evidence and intelligence to focus its efforts and future plans.
WHG has a resourced programme of support that has been developed and expanded over many years. Purposeful public engagement activities at WHG prioritise the depth of impact over the scale of reach. Diversity from informing and inspiring broad audiences to listening deeply to particular patient communities is seen. WHG has emphasised the importance of aligning its public engagement work with that of the Centre for Personalised Medicine. Additionally, it contributes to the public engagement of the Nuffield Department of Medicine's communications and engagement strategy. WHG has used a very new strategy, mission and priorities to frame the future approach.
Prof John Todd, Professor of Precision Medicine and Director of the Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics said: ‘‘Public engagement is crucial for promoting scientific literacy, fostering public trust in science. Receiving the Silver Engage Watermark Award is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team at the Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics. This award highlights our commitment to public engagement and encourages us to continue using our new strategy, mission, and priorities to guide our future approach. We look forward to working with NCCPE over the next three years and continue developing our practice and leadership in public engagement.’’